MAMMOTH WVH
Rock Stage
In all honesty, I didn’t think that Mammoth WVH’s debut album was all that great. It was a decent album but had this mid 90’s pop-rock vibes, slightly grungy and many of the songs never really stuck with me. But hey, this was Wolfgang Van Halen, son of Eddie, that was playing and if he play you watch. Unfortunately the huge crowd that was watching the clowns in Swedish low-humor dork-band Joddla Med Siv at Sweden Stage didn’t know that. A crowd we had to go through to get to Rock Stage and watch a real musician. That band is for after-ski or after-beach parties and do not belong at a Rock festival.
As I’m not a huge fan of the debut album I’m not too familiar with most of the songs but when the guys opened with “Mammoth” and “Mr Ed”, I was almost stunned. They were great. Real good sound and the music really grabbed a hold. Wolfie himself isn’t exactly Bruce Dickinson on stage. He’s locked to his guitar and he’s way more low-key as a frontman but it didn’t matter because this concert was as far from boring as it could. New song “Like A Pastime” was a killer, worked great live and bodes well for the next record. So does the first single for the new record “Celebration For The End Of The World”. Wolfie’s tribute to his dad, written shortly after his death, became very emotional and heartfelt. Wolfgang actually apologized for playing a song like that at a festival but he shouldn’t have. It had to be played.
The guys also payed tribute to the recently passed Taylor Hawkins from Foo Fighters and played “My Hero”. I’m not a Foo Fighters fan and I have always thought that that song is a bit mediocre but it sounded great and I couldn’t help joining in. I actually like the song more now than I did before this gig. After they closed the gig with “Don’t Back Down” I can only state that Mammoth WVH played a terrific gig and that I’m really glad I headed down to the Rock Stage this noon. I also feel sorry for the people who chose to watch the after-beach gig at Sweden Stage.
SKID ROW
Festival Stage
If there was one gig I was looking forward to watching this year it was Skid Row. I have looked at clips from their tour on YouTube and new guy Erik Grönwall has really taken his favorite band to another level. Since I’ve seen H.E.A.T with Grönwall lots of times I know he’s an amazing frontman and singer but this is a whole other trip. He now has to fill the shoes of Sebastian Bach, a frontman deluxe and the guy Skid Row needed back when to become superstars. I saw Skid Row at SRF back in 2019, then fronted by ZP Theart and they were good but played to a smaller crowd, maybe 3000 or something like that. This year the crowd was probably ten times as much. This crowd was huge. As in HUGE! Unfortunately bassist Rachel Bolan had to acutely go home due to domestic issues and was replaced by the band’s guitar tech Kasey Sprout.
The opening with “Slave To The Grind”, “The Threat” and “Big Guns” was a hard punch right in the gut. It stood clear right from go that this is a hungry and vital gang and they’re here to take no prisoners. To put a semi-ballad like “18 And Life” as early as the fourth song at a festival can be risky but it worked like a charm and the crowd-singing must have been heard for miles. New track “Not Dead Yet” sat well in the set and felt natural – it sounds like Skid Row all the way. “Living On A Chain Gang” and “Riot Act” kicked our asses right into next week and so did “Piece Of Me” which showed that Erik could sport just as much attitude as Bach back in the day.
“In A Darkened Room” is a brilliant song but didn’t really work in the heat and sunshine among the party-happy crowd. That said, Grönwall sang it brilliantly. Another newie, the gasoline-fueled “Time Bomb” got a great reaction. It’s classic Skid Row all the way and could’ve been a left-over from the Slave To The Grind album. “Rattlesnake Shake” is an ok tune and it turned out ok but it’s not one of their strongest moments. They should’ve played “Mudkicker” instead. Erik’s vocal performance in “I Remember You” is splendid and it was a goose-bump moment for sure. He also got some help to sing it. By 20 000-ish fans.
“Monkey Business” was wild, crazy and highly energetic and by now SRF went totally bananas and the following “Creepshow” was loved by many, that was easy to spot. New song “The Gang’s All Here” felt like a bonafide Skid Row classic and feels like a song they really have to play night after night. The closed the set with their biggest classic “Youth Gone Wild” and the place exploded and Skid Row could leave the festival as one of the true winners. Did I miss Bach then? Not one bit. Fact is, I really hope that a reunion never happens as long as Grönwall is their singer. I can honestly say that I haven’t seen/heard Skid Row this good since the early 90’s – Grönwall has really breathed new life into the band. Also, he didn’t seem nervous at all despite the huge crowd and he worked the stage as the true pro he is. There’s lots of life left in this band, that’s for sure.
ALTER BRIDGE
Festival Stage
This was the third time Alter Bridge played Sweden Rock and I have seen them both times prior to this one. I love Alter Bridge and I have seen them at their own gigs and they never let you down. However, both times they played Sweden Rock they suffered from pretty bad sound. Not so bad that it made the concerts a disaster but enough to take the edge off a bit. Also, I had the feeling that they had some trouble filling out the huge stage. I mean, the guys just aren’t big movers so this year I had hoped that they’d get a smaller stage, like the Rock Stage. But nope, once again it was the main stage, the biggest one.
I guess it’s fair, though, Alter Bridge is a big draw with many fans and no matter how you see it, they’re a great live act despite the fact that they’re not all that visual. And they have shitloads of killer songs to choose from. They opened their set with a newie, “Silver Tongue”, a brilliant tune which was followed by two absolute killers in the heavy “Addicted To Pain” and the semi-ballad “Ghosts Of Days Gone By”. You really can’t go wrong with songs like that – and they didn’t. “Cry Of Achilles” and another new song, “This Is War” followed and it stood clear that most people knew their new stuff quite well.
“Come To Life” from one of their most popular albums Blackbird went down a storm but the following new track “Sin After Sin” didn’t really go all the way. It’s a great song on record but live it became a bit too slow-witted and became the set’s only “let’s get a beer” moment. “Blackbird” probably got the biggest cheer of the gig and the fantastic “Isolation” really put things back on track again. What a song. “Metalingus” from their debut album was a pause for a better song for me as I’m not a big fan of their debut but “Open Your Eyes”, my favorite from their debut and “Rise Again” made sure that Alter Bridge could end the set in a winning way.
As a whole Alter Bridge played a damn good gig and easily their best effort at SRF so far. The sound this time was really good and Myles Kennedy sang brilliantly. The whole band seemed to be in a great mood and had a firey spark in their performance. Still not lookers of any kind, the band made sure the music did the talking. What I noticed though was that the crowd wasn’t as big as at their previous gigs. The only downsides apart from the tunes that didn’t really work was that no songs from my favorite record The Last Hero were played. Well, you can’t have it all and Alter Bridge proved that they’re a class act live.
CHEZ KANE
Pistonhead Stage
I was totally floored by Chez Kane’s self-titled debut album and I was just as floored by the follow-up Powerzone. Her take on AOR-ish, glossy 80’s poppy melodic Hard Rock seemed so genuine and honest and the songs are just amazing and I have wanted to catch her live since I heard her debut album back in 2021. I was a little disappointed that she was put to perform in the Pistonhead tent, it’s a decent enough big tent though but I had hoped she would play on one of the outside stages. That said, in the end I didn’t really care because I really wanted to catch her Danny Rexon (Crazy Lixx) written tunes live.
To open with a semi power ballad at a Rock festival might be both risky and bold but opener “I Just Want You” worked phenomenally and I was immediately put in a time-machine back to the 80’s, the most fun-loving decade. To say that Kane was happy to play at SRF is probably the understatement of the year. You could touch the pure joy and love of playing the second she and her band walked out on stage. Her semi-hit “Too Late For Love” followed and it struck me that it was brave to play that song so early in the set. Well, it worked like a charm and the fairly big audience sure loved being there just as much as Kane.
“All Of It” is a groove-laden, headbang friendly arena rocker with a hook so sharp it hurts, “Nationwide” is a balls-out rocker that kicks some major ass and “Better Than Love” made us all long for cocktails at the beach on hot summer days. “Love Gone Wild” took me back to happy times when things were easy and melodies catchier than catchy and if that song is total 80’s it’s nothing compared to the positive, fun-loving and uplifting pop-rocker “(The Things We Do) When We’re Young In Love”. I was smiling so hard that if I didn’t have ears my head would be cut in two.
After that it was a triumph ride for Kane with band. “Ball And Chain” is 80’s Bon Jovi with female vocals, “Rock You Up” became a live-killer that makes you wish clichés done right should be mandatory in pop-rock and “Powerzone” made us dance and chant along and when “Rocket On The Radio”, a song that if it was released in 1987 would be considered an 80’s classic, closed the set with it’s upbeat, uptempo pop-flirts and stand-out chorus, it stood clear that Chez Kane is just as good live as on record. If not better. See, her music is made for the stage and Kane took the stage as a superstar and her backing band is really the shit. Great musicians and performers all of them.
The only down-side was that she should have been put on one of the smaller out-side stages. Not a major thing and it didn’t affect her performance one iota. Kane’s gig was one of the best concerts at the festival and since I probably sounded very convincing I managed to bring along friends who either had never heard (of) her or wasn’t super-fond of retro 80’s pop-rock and they all agreed that Kane played one helluva gig. It must also be added that Kane nailed everything brilliantly vocally. She’s not just a splendid singer on record, she also kills it live. If she plays near you – she’s on tour now – don’t miss.
GHOST
Festival Stage
When Ghost released their debut album Opus Eponymous in 2010 and the hype shot through the roof immediately, I was hesitant to the point of obstinate. I refused to give them a shot – until I didn’t. And when that happened I fell directly. Back then it seemed like everybody loved them but now when they’re huge it seems like it’s hip to give them shit. Not a day goes by when I’m not looking at spiteful comments from pretentious Heavy Metal Soldiers In the Night. “They’re not Metal”, “Pop shit” yada yada bla bla bla. Well, Ghost now headlines SRF and looking at the massive crowd, I guess Tobias Forge got the last laugh anyway. I don’t think he couldn’t care less – and he shouldn’t because, see, Ghost is a brilliant band, from the music to the show.
An eerie atmosphere spreads over SRF when the intro plays and it feels like Ghost had won just seconds in opener “Kaiserion”, a song that gets a darker vibe live. “Rats” is a classic Hard Rock number and the edgy riff gets the crowd going even more. “Faith” is a bit of a deep-cut and in all honesty feels like a strange choice but it still works. The AOR-tinged “Spillways” with its Boston vibes is a hit and hits works well at festivals and this is no exception. It sounds terrific live where it gets a rougher approach but keeps the brilliantly catchy melodies that has us all singing along.
The trio of “Cirice”, “Hunter’s Moon” and “Ritual” are all classics by now and at this point Forge has the crowd in his hands and when “Watcher In The Sky” shows up it feels like the whole festival area is about to explode. We’re in purgatory in “Year Zero” where the light show impresses majorly and gives the right feel to an already spooky and ominous tune. Pure brilliance. “Miasma” has a Papa Nihil coming back from the dead all dressed in white – really spectacular. I have always thought that “Mary On A Cross” is only an ok song but live it takes on a new life and it’s hard not be drawn in. The singing along from the crowd sent chills down my spine and even Forge himself must have really felt something special at that point.
“Mummy Dust” has always felt creepy and evil but it has never felt like a live-song for some reason. Well, I couldn’t have been more wrong. It was splendid and at times I really got the feeling of Forge being evil incarnate while singing it. The only song that really didn’t come across right, at least for me, was “Respite On The Spitalfields”. It wasn’t bad but it felt like it had a hard time to really take off. It was also a weird thing that said tune closed the regular set. Of course, we all knew an encore would come, the question was just which songs they would give us.
First out was “Kiss The Go-Goat”, another strange choice as far as I’m concerned. That said, it really turned out great live and when “Dance Macabre” took off, it again stood clear what a huge hit the song is. Everybody knew it and the sing-alongs from the crowd went bananas once more. They bid their farewells with “Square Hammer”, a rocker so catchy it hurt and we all sang along like there was no tomorrow. Ghost sure left as winners.
I must admit that when I saw Ghost the first time, at SRF in 2015, I wasn’t really too impressed. Not that they were bad but I guess I had way too high expectations, expectations that didn’t get fulfilled. This time they were – and then some. Ghost were amazing. However, there are a few questions about the setlist. I know, there will always be songs that are missed, but no “He Is”? No “Call Me Little Sunshine”? And I know it’s far-fetched but I’d love to have gotten to hear “Bible”. Anyways, these are just trifles and really didn’t interfere with the big picture. Ghost is one of the biggest Hard Rock bands now and they damn well deserve to be.
CD & Festival reviews 